The Sky is the Limit
by ghirahim
Summary: When Metroids rain down onto the land of Hyrule its time to call in a hero; said hero takes form in a seventeen-year-old adventurer named Link who is always up for a challenge... but bounty hunters, space pirates and floating islands might be a bit much.


Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda series nor do I own Metroid's series... making no profit from letting my imagination run wild.

A/N: As the title suggests this story will have I suppose one might say 'spoilers' pertaining to the skyward sword video game released at the end of last year.

* * *

"_A hero has faced it all: he need not to be undefeated, but he must be undaunted."  
-Andrew Bernstein_

"The Galactic Federation is grateful for your latest heroic efforts Ms. Aran." The blonde stared at the white-haired man seated in the chair before her; it was more like a pedestal really or maybe one of those thrones. Anyway, the blond didn't need to hear the whole speech rehearsed considering how often she heard it or the fact that the man saying it didn't give a shit about saying it.

Nineteen-year-old Samus Aran was a bounty hunter affiliated with the Galactic Federation in their attempt to bring peace between Earth, Space and the worlds in between. Being born on Earth, Samus was all for peace but the teen spent most of her life on Zebes after her parents died during their exploration into what was deemed 'the great beyond' several years ago. So, Samus _technically_ was far older than nineteen but in human years she was nineteen and that was the story she was sticking to.

Once the speech was over she bowed and turned away. "Oh wait!" The white-haired man said causing her to look over her shoulder not even bothering to mask her disdain. "We have an incoming urgency from the western quadrant of Earth-1." Samus rose an eyebrow. "Apparently the work you did was in vain because a small batch of metroids landed in a small town not named on any of our maps. We'll dispatch a team to destroy them as soon as we—"

"No need." She interrupted, "I can handle metroids no problem. Just give me the coordinates for this 'town' and I'll take care of it."

"Fair enough, you are the best metroid eradicator in any known universe so I'll give you this solo mission. In return give us all possible information on this town."

"Deal." Nodding, Samus turned back around to leave. The life of a bounty hunter was always busy especially for a bounty hunter as freelanced as the blonde was. The Galactic Federation often had her be their guinea pig in their missions too _trivial_ for their seasoned professionals – and as one to never refuse work who was she to say no?

Jumping in her gunship parked outside the building, Samus typed in the coordinates given to her. At normal speed the location wasn't too far from here but if it was as urgent as they said she probably had to travel light speed or something so that's exactly what she did.

… … …

The bedroom door slowly opened and an eighteen-year-old blonde slowly poked her head into the room. Gasping, she saw a blond asleep haphazardly on the floor with his left foot precariously hanging on the edge of the bed.

The blonde couldn't help but chuckle at the display; she often wondered how her best friend managed to get himself into such poor sleeping positions but never remembered to ask – not that _he_ knew how he did it. "Link?" She said softly.

The teen in question merely stirred but made no other significant signs of awakening. The blond wasn't a heavy sleeper but he was notoriously stubborn especially when someone tried to wake him up. Usually, as the best friend, that task went to her.

The blonde sighed shaking her head. "Honestly! You have got to be the only creature in existence that can sleep for—"

An explosion reverberated through the entire house causing the eighteen-year-old to fall on her formerly dormant best friend. Twin pairs of blue eyes glanced at one another briefly. "Sorry." She apologized slowly getting up. Hearing the pitter-patter of raindrops, she gasped running over to the window drawing the curtains open. "Link, get up and take a look at this!"

Hesitantly, the blond complied slowly getting up and walking over to the window staring at the royal blue raindrops falling from the sky landing on any available surface.

"Ah, here you are Zelda. I guess I should have known you would be in here." The two teens turned to the white-haired man standing in the doorway. "I take it you two heard that explosion a few seconds ago? I am going to check it out, you two stay inside."

"But father—"

"No buts! As the Mayor of Hyrule it is my duty to protect the townspeople which includes my daughter; in most cases that_ especially _means my daughter. I know how you two love to explore and see the unknown but this situation could get incredibly dangerous especially since we don't even know what's out there. Link, keep an eye on Zelda would you?" The teen in question nodded as the man walked out of the room closing the door behind him.

"This sucks!" Zelda sighed plopping down onto Link's bed. "I mean how could he not let us explore? This situation is _begging_ for exploration! We could be dealing with a real live adventure, the kind with aliens and everything! How do we know an alien spaceship didn't just land in town?"

"Zelda." Pouting, she looked at Link as he sat beside her. "Your dad might be right..."

"Who's side are you on anyway? Are you insinuating that I should just sit on the sidelines watching the big, strong men take care of everything?"

"No, that isn't what I meant—"

"That's enough out of you! Don't forget **I** was the one to convince father to let you stay with us to 'keep you out of trouble.'" Link sighed, "_besides_ you have got to be curious about the explosion and blue rain. I mean, you shouldn't see rain that clearly; you're the one that got me into this whole adventurer thing so don't you dare back out of this now!"

"I... I am curious, but your dad will kill me if anything happens to you. I already have two strikes with him."

Zelda tsked him, "then you obviously have to make sure nothing happens to me." She began with a wink. "And in turn I'll make sure to let you do most of the dangerous, dirty work. Now, refresh my memory ...what are your two strikes?"

"Hmm... lets see there was the skydiving incident off Death Mountain." Gulping, Zelda nodded slowly, "and lets not forget you almost drowning in Lake Hylia after we invented a new, less boring way to fish."

"Okay, okay. So I'll admit you aren't exactly the _best_ influence around but you definitely are the best friend imaginable. I have never had a boring, adventure-less day since I met you."

Link sighed, "you're trying to butter me up so we can sneak out and check on the explosion aren't you?"

"Of course not." Zelda batted her eyelashes, "I'm merely speaking the truth."

Link sighed again, "right..."

Zelda stood. "I bet if we sneak out now no one will notice~" Link shook his head. Was _he _truly the bad influence here? All those things he got blamed for were Zelda's idea but she could do no wrong in her father's eyes.

… … …

Despite the warning after a few minutes, the two blonds quietly tip-toed out of the house, in raincoats, peering around every corner until they caught sight of the mayor and a few other townspeople looking over a hole in the ground. "I knew it was aliens!" Zelda exclaimed squirming when Link clamped a hand over her mouth silencing her.

Upon closer inspection the townspeople were taking things out of the hole. Whatever they were taking out they were handling with the utmost care, wrapping the things in blankets on an assembly line of sorts from villager to villager without it hitting the ground or getting soaked by the rain.

At the muffled garbling of his best friend Link released the mouth he held captive, "check it out. Why aren't they wearing raincoats or anything?" Link did a double take, like Zelda pointed out, all of the townspeople were getting soaked to the bone completely coated in the blue liquid; their raincoats were nesting the still unknown things in the blankets. "What if they've been brainwashed?" Zelda's eyes widened then she gasped. "Or probed?"

Suddenly, the townspeople ceased all movement simultaneously turning about face – which happened to be the direction where Link and Zelda were hiding. Before Zelda could speak, Link grabbed her ducking in a corner as the townspeople began mechanically walking. A few of the townspeople walking by held their blankets at about waist length and were hunched forward further shielding them from the downpour above.

Eyes narrowing, Link managed to get a glimpse of what was under the blanket; it appeared to be a translucent jellyfish but that couldn't possibly be the cause of this ..._weirdness_. Could it? Once everyone disappeared the blonds nodded to one another before going back in the house.

Grimacing, Zelda took off her raincoat putting it in the laundry room on top of a counter. "I think we should investigate this blue stuff..." She grabbed a box of rubber gloves from a shelf and put a pair on then gave the box to Link who followed suit. Cracking her gloved knuckles she nodded to Link who took off his raincoat.

Their raincoats caught enough of the unidentified substance to research and fortunately none of it landed on their bodies so it was a win-win. Zelda left the room momentarily to retrieve her microscope then she placed it on the counter. With a pair of forceps, she separated a piece of the blue stuff smearing it on a slide then putting it under the microscope.

Gasping, Zelda moved back for a second before looking under the microscope again. "Its _moving_!" She beckoned Link over and he glanced at it under the microscope moving around slowly... in fact, it almost seemed as though it was spreading.

A loud thud caused the blonds to glance over in the direction where their raincoats were sitting ...or at least it would be if the raincoats were still there. Not only were the raincoats gone but a piece of the counter they were laying on eroded. A few of the things on the counter near the raincoats had fallen onto the ground as nothing was there to support them.

Link walked over to the counter frowning. "If that stuff could tear through our raincoats in seconds why didn't it just kill us?"

"Why would you even—" Zelda gasped, "oh no! That means it could be killing my father as we speak! I mean, unless it has a different reaction for whatever it touches. None of it got on our bodies but who knows what it could do to dad and the others who were covered in it."

"Before we jump to conclusions we should figure out what this stuff is and how its connected to those jellyfish I saw."

"Jellyfish?" Link nodded. "Hmm... well I guess we could—_Ah!_ I got it. Father's study is swarming with books." Zelda paused. "No pun intended. Anyway, I'm sure at least one of them has a book on this stuff. Lets go."

Link cautiously opened the door slightly waiting for the footsteps to subside before opening the door fully. When the coast seemed clear, the teens dashed down the hall to the aforementioned study littered with bookshelves.

Zelda placed several chairs against the door before beginning her search. Enthralled in the books, the blonde didn't notice Link climbing a shelf until he fell off the ladder. At the thud, Zelda's head snapped up in the direction of the noise. Eyebrows furrowing, she looked around the room not spotting her best friend. "L-Link?" Frowning, she stood up and walked toward the direction she last saw him in and froze at the hole in the floor. "What did you do?"

Link chuckled rubbing the back of his neck. His uninhibited curiosity often lead the younger teen to be adorable at times. Zelda sighed before helping him up. "Hey, what's that chest?" She bent down opening the chest staring at the shiny blade encased inside.

"Its a sword!" She gasped picking it up. "Hey, I wonder if this is that goddess sword father wouldn't shut up about?" Grabbing the sheath, Zelda placed the sword in its sheath before handing it to Link. "You hold onto it, you need a weapon to protect yourself against an alien attack or something and I'm sure father won't mind us borrowing it for a while."

"What about you? You need a weapon too."

"I have my trusty bow and arrow." Grinning, she walked over to one of the shelves moving it aside revealing a safe. Quickly entering the code she opened it and took out the bow along with its arrow filled quiver. "Alright. Now lets look for that book."

Link nodded and the duo split up venturing in separate sections of the study. They continued to search meeting up in the middle of the bookshelf a few hours later. "This is hopeless!" Zelda screamed. "I found books on every subject known to man but nothing on these jellyfish or blue rain. What are—"

Just she was in mid-rant Link held out a book in front of her face. Blue eyes narrowed at the book before taking it from him. "Are these the 'jellyfish' you saw?" Link nodded. "_Met-roids_. If these things are really found on another planet why have they..." Zelda's eyes widened. "The explosion. Their home planet might have been in danger and they fled crashing landing here."

"That's understandable but no book here breathes a word about any blue rain; and..." Link took the book back from Zelda. "Those metroids suck the life out of whatever they touch – it doesn't add up to the townspeople's zombie like behavior. So we need to find out what this rain is and what its truly capable of."

Frowning, Zelda folded her arms over her chest. "I guess our only option is to follow around my father and the others. We need to dress in layers making sure not even a drop falls onto our bodies." Link nodded.

"Alright." Zelda hoisted the bow tighter against her. "Lets prepare."

… … …

With the aide of her mirror, Zelda glanced down the corridor looking for any of the zombified or possessed townsfolk. Seeing nothing she dashed across the hall to her bedroom. She and Link briefly split up to get clothed; as close as the two were Zelda wasn't one hundred percent comfortable with seeing Link in mid-dress.

A loud bang made the blonde draw an arrow from her quiver stocking it on her bow. She didn't want to sound conceited or anything but she was a pretty good shot and it wasn't just because her father told her so. She was in countless competitions placing in the top two; she was also pretty capable with a sword too but Link's reflexes were quicker than hers so she gave the sword to him to use... besides, she had serious doubts about his marksman capabilities.

She pulled the arrow back against the bow at the direction where she heard the noise. The noise in question kept coming closer; it sounded like footsteps coming into her bedroom. Gulping, the blonde stood her ground. The footsteps were _way_ too heavy to belong to Link and they had secret codewords for their arrival and Zelda didn't hear any sounds aside from the footsteps – whoever this particular individual was they weren't exactly trying to be stealthy.

The knob of her bedroom twisted and as soon as the door opened Zelda fired an arrow and was somehow flung across the room clamped onto the wall by her shoulder ...with some kind of claw? Her bedroom door was fully kicked open by a yellow metal foot.

Zelda's eyes widened as the leg's owner fully came into the room. Whatever it was – an orange and yellowish suited being harshly pulled the wedged arrow out of its chest area. Wordlessly, the claw was retracted back to the thing it came out of and Zelda fell to the floor.

Before the blonde could speak the suited being before her held out the same arm that the claw retracted to moving it up and down. The movement continued for a few seconds before it stopped. The being held up both arms and took off its helmet revealing the face of a young long-haired blonde.

Zelda gaped at her. "You appear human ...enough. I am Samus Aran, professional bounty hunter, the Galactic Federation sent me here to help with some kind of metroid problem."

Samus extended her non claw having arm helping Zelda up. "I-I'm Zelda. You know about the metroids?"

"I make a living off knowing about the metroids. Its seems as though they've decided to use your town as their latest breeding ground."

"Gross!" Zelda shuddered. "Oh! Do you know what that blue rain is outside? I haven't found any books on it."

"That's to be expected, phazon is some pretty top secret stuff."

"Phazon? Ms. Samus, my father and the rest of the townspeople are _covered_ in it. What is it capable of?"

"Lots of things." Samus put her helmet back on then held her arm up moving it around the room. "As the townspeople are still moving I'd say its a good chance they are only in stage one of phazon corruption. Its nothing serious ...yet but if they maintain exposure it'll undoubtedly get worse."

Samus turned to the opened door pointing her arm toward it. "W-What is it?" Zelda asked.

"We're not alone. Stay close." Nodding, Zelda walked toward Samus standing behind her readying her bow and arrow. The two took a step forward, then another, then a few more until they reached the door standing on opposite sides. Zelda glanced at Samus' suited right arm which began glowing.

Hearing a familiar tune being whistled Zelda sighed in relief, "its okay." Samus turned to her. "He's a friend."

Before Zelda could begin whistling signaling her safety Samus stopped her. "Has this 'friend' been exposed to the phazon or metroids?" Pausing briefly Zelda shook her head.

Without warning Samus stood and kicked down the bedroom door. "Get down!" She yelled, Link complied diving forward as she shot a beam out of her arm.

"Holy—" Zelda exclaimed watching the miniature explosion unfold. Whatever Samus shot in the hallway wasn't out there anymore. The blonde gulped, she just hoped that wasn't a person on the other side of that beam.

Putting her hand down, Samus slowly walked out in to the hall. Zelda quickly followed suit peering over her arm seeing the dust left in the blast's wake. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she saw Link then approached him helping him up. "You okay?"

"I've been better." He looked Samus up and down, "who's this?"

"_This_ is the bounty hunter sent to help us exterminate the metroids." Zelda said proudly. "**Her** name is Samus." Link nodded and Zelda pouted slightly. She was half expecting him to give more of a reaction than that. Female bounty hunters, especially those as badass as Samus clearly seemed to be, were a rarity in themselves so like any other guy she figured he wouldn't believe it until he saw it – and possibly not even believed it then – but she should have known. Link wasn't like any other guy she ever met.

"I'm Link." He greeted extending his hand. Samus examined the hand in question before shaking it.

"Now I'm only going to say this once. The only way to get rid of the metroid is to freeze them before destroying them otherwise they'll keep coming back or rather they won't die in the first place. As for the phazon, the only known cure I've ever seen is at the Galactic Federation headquarters. And I was just there..." At the pause Link and Zelda exchanged curious glances. "I don't suppose you have anything capable of freezing several dozen metroids, do you?"

"We have a bunch of coolers in the cellar..."

"Say, princess, you don't mind if I borrow your boyfriend for a few do you?"

Blushing Zelda shook her head, "h-he isn't my boyfriend!"

"Right. Come kids, lets head to the cellar."

After a few minutes of stealthy walking, the trio found themselves in the freezing cellar. "Perfect." Samus remarked. "Stay here." Zelda gaped. "Metroids can't stand the cold so you'll be safe in here."

"Safe? I don't want to be safe. Why can't I go and help? I can't just sit here helplessly leaving you two to do all the work."

"You said your father is out there, right?" Zelda nodded slowly. "I don't know what state he's currently in and I doubt you want to see how he'd look altered with phazon exposure."

Zelda sighed sitting on the floor. Samus glanced at Link nodding. He nodded back and turned to leave but paused turning to Zelda taking off his outermost jacket draping it over her. "We'll be back."

Zelda nodded watching Link walk out of the room closing the freezer door. Samus leaned against the wall staring at Link. "Don't look so glum, you know _why_ I'm doing this don't you?" Link nodded slowly. "Good. She came in contact with a few infant metroids, they somehow got in the house much like the one I froze earlier. They're not as dangerous as the metroids outside and with exposure to something cold they won't last very long. However, if we leave them on her they'll grow and then we'll be in a heap of trouble."

Link turned to the door looking through the glass part. Inside, Zelda was shivering almost violently even with all the layers of clothing she was wearing. The infant metroids must have been clinging to her for body warmth. "If I commented I'm sure they would have attacked her so I had to keep quiet." Samus sighed. "How good are you with that sword?"

"Intermediate?"

"It'll have to do. Listen, when you see the metroids strike." Link nodded unsheathing his sword. Samus held the knob peering inside the glass. Inside Zelda was now standing shaking her clothing, spinning, twirling and moving around. The blonde screamed when a tiny metroid slid out of her shirt hitting the floor. "Now!" Samus flung the door open and Link rolled inside stabbing the metroid with the edge of his blade as another tiny metroid flew out of Zelda's clothes Link sliced it in half before it hit the ground.

"And you said you were intermediate?" Samus commented walking into the room. She scanned Zelda from head to toe nodding. "Good. I take it you felt them at the end, hm? Sorry to deceive you but there was no telling what they would have done if they were detected."

"So... its safe to assume that the metroids are inside the building?" Samus nodded.

"Grab some ice we're going to need to turn down the heat."

… … …

After turning up to cold air, the trio returned to the cellar. "This is the plan. Metroids are practically invading your town so we're going to split up and turn up the cold air in every house in town forcing them out of their hiding spot. When you see a metroid, singular, inside a building freeze it no questions asked." Link and Zelda nodded. "Once its frozen destroy it. Above all else stay hidden and protected from the phazon. Make sure they don't get outside because they'll be harder to kill. But above all else, do not pull any unnecessary heroics metroids **can** call for reinforcements."

"Goldilocks, put some ice cubes on your arrows." Though her eyebrows furrowed at the nickname she complied sticking some ice cubes onto the edge of her arrows then stuffing them into her cooler turned quiver. The entire arrow was cold to the touch but if she thought it was cold the metroids would hate it.

Link on the other hand had several bags of ice sort of on a cooler type utility belt of sorts. Samus also made his sword sheath into another unorthodox cooler filling it with ice so that the blade was nice and cold. "What about you Ms. Samus?"

Samus held up her right arm. "I have all the ice I need right here. Assuming the two of you make it back alive we'll meet back here. Stay alert." She held her hand in front of her moving it up and down scanning both of them once more. "We're good to go." Nodding, she headed to the left.

Zelda sighed, "what's wrong?" Link asked. "I figured you'd be excited to have an adventure?"

"I am... its just, its not as glamorous as I thought but oh well. I'll get over it. Make sure to stay safe, okay?"

Link nodded. "Back at you." Nodding again, he exited the house running to the right. Zelda sighed again.

"If I think about it this way I'll be a hero so I guess that's good." Nodding to herself, she ran out of the house heading forward. Zelda crawled into her first building pausing as she heard voices. Biting her lip, she leaned against the wall staring at some of the townspeople walking by. They had to be zombified because she wasn't even hiding properly and they didn't acknowledge her existence at all – unless they were poised to launch a sneak attack when she turned around. Either way, she waited for them to disappear down the corner before she made her move to the basement.

The first building she stepped in happened to be the town hall. It was the biggest building in Hyrule so if this was a competition she would definitely be losing, especially since she saw Link out the window running into another building.

Zelda was competitive by nature; her father bred her into a winner so she took out her competition needs on her best friend challenging him to any and everything she could. Unfortunately, for the competitor within they were tied – he clearly exceeded in several things while she beat him in others. Stopping metroids was going to be a competition that she won hands down!

Entering the basement, Zelda quickly located the thermostat thankful it wasn't on a floor where more people were. In most buildings the thermostat was in the basement but in others it was in the most inconvenient locations.

Zelda switched off the heat turning the air to its coldest setting before closing it. "Zelda?" Flinching, the blonde gulped before turning to her father. "What are you doing here?"

"Father, you're unharmed!"

"Of course I am. Why have you touched the thermostat?"

"I-I was a little warm so I wanted to cool off. I'll fix it back."

"Of course you're warm dear, you have quite a few layers on. Why not take a few off and turn off the air?"

"Father are you okay? You seem ...odd."

"I'm fine darling. But I thought I told you to stay indoors in our house? I went to look for you and you weren't there."

"Right..." Zelda rubbed the back of her neck. "We were out of toilet paper so I came here to get some. That's when I got hot and turned up the air."

The white-haired man nodded. "I see. Well go back to your room dear. I'll be back as soon as I can." Zelda nodded; her eyes widened as her father turned around and had a blue metroid was latched onto his neck. Remembering what Samus said about metroids calling for back up she quickly set an ice filled arrow on her bow and shot it before he exited the room. The frozen metroid hit the ground and the blonde stomped on it shattering it to pieces. Good thing she found her iron boots, putting them on for extra cover. Sure, they were hard to run in but they protected her feet.

"Father!" Zelda shook the man shaking his head.

"W-What happened? Zelda? What's going on? Where are we?"

"Long story. Stay here, I'll be back." The blonde paused as her father grabbed her arm. "W-What's wrong?"

"You are what's wrong _my dear_. Why are you not affected by the phazon like the rest of these fools?" Zelda's eyes widened as the grip tightened briefly before the hand recoiled and the old man shrieked. "You are a fool if you think the cold can stop us." The man disappeared before reappearing near the thermostat. "We are stronger, more advanced than our brethren." He turned to Zelda tilting his head. "You cannot stop us—"

"But _I_ can!" The old man's eyes widened as he was hit with a beam that went through his body sending him to the ground.

"W-What are you doing?" Zelda screamed running over to her father's fallen body.

"Don't touch him. He's been possessed by the phazon metroids. They've fused together." Zelda slowly turned to her. "Remember when I told you they'd be harder to kill outside? Phazon is like a steroid to metroids it gives them an incomprehensible power boost. Now you, apparently... there is something in your body is keeping you unaffected." Samus walked over to her hoisting her up in her arms. "Something about you isn't human and its that same something that shields you against the phazon. At the same time it makes you a metroid magnet. You're coming with me."

"W-What about my father?"

"I didn't kill him. I had to shoot the metroid within, it didn't harm him physically ...although he'll be unconscious for a while." Kicking the door open, Samus walked out of the town hall. "I finished my end and most of yours, lets check on your boyfriend."

As she was being hoisted like a sack of potatoes, Zelda looked back at Samus' covered head. "I told you he isn't my boyfriend!"

"Whatever he is, he isn't shielded from the phazon like you are. My guess is the only reason why he wasn't affected before was because you were with him and now that you're not there nothing is protecting him. Having said that you might want to hold on tight." Zelda clamped onto Samus's shoulders as she started running. She ran through the remainder of the buildings Zelda was set to cover without breaking a sweat before pausing in front of the town's shop – the last building on the left. Unfortunately, the town's shop was a good distance away from all other walks of life and if the temperature was up in every other house Link must have just recently got here ...assuming he was even in the building at all.

"H-How did you run so fast?" Zelda asked dizzily allowing Samus to put her down as she swayed back and forth.

"Speed boosters." She turned around scanning the area. "I don't sense him."

"What?" Sighing, Samus scanned the area again frantically moving her arm around. "B-B-But what does that mean? You think the metroids could have gotten to him? O-Or is it something worse?"

"Our first order of business is to turn up the air; then we'll look for him." Luckily, the thermostat was located in the front of the shop right on the wall against the front door so Zelda easily switched on the cold air grimacing when several metroids rose to the ground.

Samus charged up her arm shooting them all freezing them before adjusting her arm cannon shooting them all again making them explode. Zelda gaped and as she was about to speak Samus pointed her fully charged cannon at her. "Down!"

Zelda easily complied crouching down on the floor allowing Samus to blow a hole through the shop's wall. Zelda slowly glanced up seeing Link in the distance running toward them. "Its Link!"

"And he's not alone." Zelda slowly stood watching the entire town, safe from her presumably still unconscious father, charging after the boy. Samus charged her cannon again firing knocking out some of the townspeople but the rest kept running. "Arrows!"

"B-But I can't hurt—"

"Would you rather fire arrows saving the townspeople from soulless lives as _phazon_ metroid puppets or not hit them and let them suffer until they outlive their usefulness? Its your choice. Fire an arrow and stop the only other person in town from becoming one of them!"

Shakily, Zelda picked up an arrow from her quiver shooting it at one of the townspeople slowing their movement. Her heart wrenched as they doubled over in pain, clutching the arrow that pierced their flesh. Letting the tears silently fall down, Zelda continued to shoot at the people nearest and dearest to her heart. But with each shot it was getting more and more difficult to hit; the metroids were becoming aware of their strategy dodging the attacks several times before finally succumbing to an arrow or an ice beam/missile combo.

Link was still a good distance away so they couldn't stop – at least that's what Zelda hoped until she grabbed for an arrow feeling nothing. She turned to Samus who was charging up her cannon. "I'm out of arrows!" As if everything was moving in slow motion, Zelda turned around watching someone dive forward grabbing Link's left ankle tripping him. He fell to the floor losing his sword in the process; the other townspeople wasted no time diving atop the boy who tried fighting them off.

It was hard enough shooting her friends but helplessly watching her best friend get attacked was heartbreaking. "Got it." Finally, Samus ran over to the pile shooting a barrage of ice freezing the entire pile. "Zelda, get moving." The blonde reluctantly complied running over to the scene. "They won't stay frozen for long." Looking around, Zelda got one of her discarded arrows off the ground and jammed it into an empty patch of ice. She kept jabbing at it until it broke. If she didn't move fast enough Link might get frostbite or even hypothermia.

Samus was on the other end of the pile punching away at the ice avoiding body parts, though she was skillfully doing away with the metroids that were seeping out of the bodies in an attempt to seek warmth. With all of the metroids dead or burrowing deeper into their hosts body they finally managed to get to Link encased in a block of ice. With one swift strike Zelda slammed the quiver on the ice which didn't contain a body part shattering the entire thing.

Samus leaned over the other side scanning him from head to toe. Zelda looked at her while she was scanning unable to read the other's expression as she was scanning. "No signs of hypothermia but he might have frostbite. Lets warm him up before more townspeople decide to show up or these guys defrost." She hoisted one side of his frozen body while Zelda took the other. Dragging him alone, they made their way back to the mayor's home turning the heat on allowing the frozen body to warm up.

Dozens of blankets were covering the teen's frozen body safe for his face. Zelda sat beside Link looking over him. "I wonder if this is how he feels when I get injured?" She looked over her shoulder at a now helmet-less Samus standing over her. "I'm so worried about him. What if it doesn't work?"

"My scanner didn't pick up any abnormalities so he should be fine within a few days." She put her helmet back on using that scanner to get a second opinion. "Seems like he was wounded fending off the attack, we need to fix him up if he's going to warm up properly. Blood loss will only make the situation worse."

Zelda nodded uncovering the various blankets they put on Link trying to warm him up. Samus took her helmet off again resting it on the bed beside Link's head then helped Zelda with her task of removing the sheets. Once completed they took in the sight before them gasping.

They didn't notice it before as they were too busy trying to keep him warm but dozens of lacerations on his body; the cuts may have been small but as there were so many he was losing lots of blood at an alarming rate.

Zelda grabbed the first aid then got to work dressing them. "Wait." Samus knelt down picking up a piece of ripped fabric examining it. "Its phazon."

Zelda's eyes widened as she looked back at Link. She wouldn't be able to stand it if both her father and Link became mindless, soulless metroid slaves for the rest of their lives.

"It didn't go in his body but he still came in contact with it from his attackers, we'll need to monitor him to make sure he doesn't get phazon corruption ...not that there will be any way to stop it if he's already affected." Samus glanced at Zelda. "I doubt he would want you to worry about him so don't."

"I'm sorry for caring." Zelda snapped looking at Samus before turning back to Link. "He's always been looking out for me ...for _years _he's been protecting me."

"Then its high time you returned the favor. Some of the metroid infused townspeople attacked him so they sapped some of his life force in addition to being frozen alive; it'll be a while before he recovers. If we let him rest we can eliminate the rest of the metroids and destroy the phazon."

"How?"

"We'll need to pay a visit to the Galactic Federation."

"We can't leave Link here alone and unprotected _especially_ if the heat is on!"

Samus sighed. "It'll be a tight fit but we'll bring him along." Zelda nodded. "My ship is in the forest not too far from here. We'd better hurry while the phazon stops coming down."

Nodding, Zelda helped Samus get Link into a standing position before they each put one of his limp arms over their shoulders heading to the forest. As she kept walking, Zelda stared in awe at the ship that oddly resembled Samus' helmet. The two of them practically stuffed Link into the back and Zelda squeezed in the seat beside Samus.

"I told you it would be a tight fit."

"No kidding. So we're going to visit the Galactic Federation?" Samus nodded. "Would it be safe for us to breathe in space?"

Samus paused before turning to Zelda. "I hadn't thought of that. Hmm... well there is air in the ship but you'll have to get one of my suits if you want to survive."

The blonde gulped. "Goody."

… … …

Zelda lost track of time but she somehow managed to fall asleep during the trip. When she awoke she saw everything in green. She tried to sit up but somehow found herself unable to. She slowly raised her arms that were a lot heavier than normal. Once she finally got them on she gasped. Her hands were in a suit similar to Samus'. Well, the blonde _did_ say she needed a suit if she wanted to survive.

Her heavy suited hands slowly ventured up to her face which was encased in a helmet. That explained why it was so easy for her to hear her own breathing. She glanced to the left seeing nothing, then she glanced to the right still not seeing anything.

She got up to move and the door opened. She moved stumbling out of the ship landing on her suited face. "Morning." A suit-less Samus greeted. Zelda was grateful to be wearing a suit because her facial expression would have been priceless. She gaped at the toned blonde in the fitted blue catsuit. It was the first time she saw Samus from the neck down – it was a shame such a body was hidden under all that metal. At the same time it made Zelda feel less threatened by _not_ seeing Samus' body.

"Why aren't you wearing your suit?" Zelda's eyes widened at her own voice. That suit was amazing in so many different ways. Now if she could only get up. Sensing her plight, Samus approached her helping her up.

"I don't need my suit here, I handle the air here better than on Earth. Besides, we shouldn't be in danger here..."

"Is this the Galactic Federation Headquarters?"

"No, this is my hanger in the bounty hunter's quadrants of planet Zebes – this is sort of my home. We're just stopping off for a quick rest; I needed some more fuel anyway." She pointed toward the glowing bed to the left. "Go there while I fix up my ship."

Nodding, Zelda slowly stomped over to the aforementioned area not quite used to moving with so much weight. She leaned forward gasping. Link was unconscious and barely clothed in the thing with some weird green light moving up and down repeatedly. "What is this?"

"Its a recharging station." Samus appeared by Zelda's side wiping her hands. "Finished with repairs. That station will heal most of, if not all, his wounds unless he was poisoned or something. There has yet to be a device created to _fully_ heal someone."

"Will he be alright?"

"One can only hope. Now that you're awake we're heading to the Galactic Federation; Link will take hours to heal and that's assuming he merely has external injuries. We can make it there and back in no time."

"Okay. But why hours?"

"Earthicans don't heal as quickly as someone raised in Zebes. I'm just glad his body was compatible with the healing or else I wouldn't know what to do."

Samus climbed into her ship. Zelda sent one last glance at Link before following suit. "There's a bit more room this time around; things will really get cramped when Link gets better and he'll need to sit down. Unless we stuff him in the back again."

The blonde typed in the coordinates into her ship then they blasted off to the Galactic Federation's headquarters.

… … …

"Sir, Samus Aran from the planet Zebes. She brings along a... guest of sorts." The man bowed before disappearing.

"Ah Samus, so good to see you _again. _I didn't expect to see you back so soon, have you completed your mission and what's this about you finding a partner that can keep up with you? That's interesting."

"Mr. Owlan, I'm not done. I destroyed most of the metroids but I need the phazon antidote to finish the job." The white-haired man rose an eyebrow. "Her hometown has become infected with phazon corruption – only this girl remains unfazed."

"I see... guards seize the girl!" Zelda gasped as several guards surrounded her. "If she was the sole person unaffected by an interaction with phazon she might be able to produce an antidote. Take her to the lab for testing." The man turned back to Samus. "I get the feeling I'm receiving a half truth from you but no matter you are free to go and aide the girl if you deem it necessary."

Nodding, Samus headed to the lab. She just hoped the Galactic Federation cronies wouldn't remove the helmet from Zelda because Samus had no idea how she'd fare with the drastic change in air. By the time Samus arrived at the lab, a fully suited Zelda was sitting up. "Oh, you're here."

"What did they do to you?"

"They removed the suit and took some blood before putting it back on. Can we go now?"

Samus glanced to her left at the beaker filled with a light blue liquid, she grabbed it before nodding. The two made their way to another, secluded lab closing the door behind them. Samus approached an empty beaker set putting some of the content of the beaker into an empty beaker. "I take it you got some of your own blood before redressing?"

Zelda handed over the tube with her blood and Samus poured a small amount into the beaker mixing them together. The two girls stared at the concoction brewing it melded together almost instantly turning the solution purple.

"Your blood is a phazon antidote alright, but like I said it'll only attract metroids to you." Zelda gulped. "By the way, in case you were curious metroids can suck the life out of you _in the suit_." Zelda turned to Samus who was completely unfazed by their conversation. She did say she was in the business of metroids so she probably got attacked by a few during her lifetime.

"We got the antidote so lets head back to Hyrule and put it to good use." Zelda nodded and they exited the lab and subsequently the Galactic Federation headquarters.

By the time they returned to Samus' hanger the blonde immediately sensed something was off. She activated her power suit which Zelda noticed was now purple instead of yellow orange like earlier. Samus told Zelda to stay still as she cautiously approached the bed.

Zelda stood there motionless until Samus paused standing over the bed beckoning her over. The teen complied and gasped once she got there. "He... he's gone? But where? H-How? I mean is it even possible? You said we wouldn't be able to breathe under the drastic change in air."

"He shouldn't." Zelda gulped. "I didn't detect anything so there wasn't a struggle going on; if he left it was of his own free will unless a creature without a body of its own snatched him up." Even with a helmet on Samus just knew the shorter blonde paled at that comment. "He's probably somewhere in the vicinity but there are thousands of hangers to choose from." Samus sighed deactivating her suit. "We might as well get to work. Unless he's suited the sooner we find him the better."


End file.
